Diego Simeone remains confident that his team can turn things around against Chelsea in the second leg


Diego Simeone remains confident that his team can turn things around against Chelsea in the second leg
Diego Simeone’s defensive formations

Atletico Madrid lost 1-0 to Chelsea in the round of sixteen first leg tie at Bucharest in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night. Olivier Giroud landed the killer blow for the Spanish club with his athletic overhead kick.

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Diego Simeone on the second leg against Chelsea

Going into the match Atletico Madrid had an extremely difficult week with the team conceding points to Levante with a draw at first and then losing 2-0 just three days later. This has enabled rivals Real Madrid to move in just three points behind them while giving additional impetus to both Barcelona and Sevilla who follow closely as well.


Moreover with Covid 19 regulations in place, Atletico Madrid had to play the game at Bucharest instead of the Wanda Metropolitano and had to cede home advantage. But it’s true that Diego Simeone’s men went into the game with an extremely defensive mind-set. They parked six while defending and completely brought the pressure in themselves.


Looking three weeks ahead is too far,” Simeone said when asked about the return leg in comments “We have a lot of games until then. We’ll be playing against an opponent with speed and will need to be able to stop it, to deal with forwards like Giroud and other powerful players.

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We need to have more of the ball and position ourselves better in attack. We’ll work on it, but we also have an important game against Villarreal. Work, work, work. I trust the team we have. If we were in the month of September and they told me we’ve lost but we’re still leading, I’d sign for it.”

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